12. Short Debate: The need for a fire safety fund in Wales to offer assistance to leaseholders

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 7:58 pm on 16 September 2020.

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Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 7:58, 16 September 2020

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm unfortunately placed with my back to the person I'm responding to, which I always find a bit difficult, so apologies, David.

I'm very pleased that David has provided us with an opportunity to have this debate, this discussion, and me with the opportunity to update everyone on the Welsh Government's plans for building safety in Wales. As David rightly said, phase 2 of the Grenfell inquiry is resuming now, and we are all reminded of the importance of ensuring residents remain safe and secure in their homes as a result of the appalling tragedy that we're all too well aware of. I'm also well aware of the difficulties faced by residents and leaseholders due to the ongoing building safety issues at a number of high-rise buildings in Wales, and indeed I have an enormous amount of sympathy for the plight that they find themselves in, and I agree entirely with David that it's largely through no fault of their own. These things are opaque and difficult to understand even if you're an experienced conveyancing lawyer, so it's not surprising that people have found themselves in a very difficult position.

It is still worth making the point—I know that I've made it repeatedly—that obviously the building owners and developers are the people who have the actual responsibility for this having happened, and they ought to put their faults right at their own cost. I accept that they aren't, and that they don't care about the professional reputation in the way that we feel they ought, but of course it's worth saying that they ought to feel that way, and I do think that's worth reiterating.

I'm also pleased to see that the Competition and Markets Authority has now taken an interest in the sale of leaseholds inappropriately, and has started to take action against some of the worst offenders for having sold leasehold properties. I do think the two things are interlinked, although it is of course more appropriate to have a leasehold as long as leasehold exists—and I'll address Mike's point in a minute—in a high-rise than it is in a house. Nevertheless, the way the leasehold is sold and the way that the freehold is managed afterwards is an important point of that, and I'm not sure that everyone who buys leaseholds in high-rise buildings entirely understands the management structure that they're buying into, and there have been a number of problems as a result of that.